About the IIRE Youth Schools

These two-week, generally trilingual English-Castilian-French summer schools for leaders of progressive youth organizations have become a regular annual event. They offer a short but intensive introduction to social theory, applied to discussions of issues in e.g. European anti-racist organizing.

There is every reason for alternative educational facilities for young people like the ones we provide at the IIRE. Mainstream educational systems are hardly focussed on critical intellectual stimulation, let alone on learning and thinking about strategies to change the world. Moreover, the involvement of young activists in all our discussions is crucial if we want to grasp the enormous pace at which social and political change happens.

That is why the IIRE, organises it's annual Youth Schools, as part of a tradition which started in 1994 when we decided we needed to do more to help young activists learn from other generations, as well as the other way around. The end of 'really existing socialism' in the Soviet Union and its satellites had triggered new discussions about the viability of alternatives for capitalism; the dominance of neoliberalism seemed unending; and all the different currents and tendencies of the left found themselves in crisis. The situation posed new questions, not only for young activists, but also for all who were concerned with strategies for changing the world. Today, the challenges posed by the new youth movements and the deepening of the capitalist crisis make this school a crucial meeting point for the new generations of activists.

On this page, you can find recordings of different lectures given during these courses. You can find more recordings on our YouTube channel.

Youth Schools

For over 20 years, the IIRE has organized educational courses for young socialist activists. Since moving to the Lombokstraat, the IIRE has organized a youth-school every year, each with around 20-25 participants. The course provides an intensive introduction to Marxist theory and examinations of current struggles, especially focusing on issues that are relevant for youth movements.

This summer the IIRE had two very successful international activities. From 6 to 10 of August, we organized the sixth LGBTIQ strategy seminar. These seminars are spaces for radical left LGBTIQ liberation activists to develop theory and strategy.